Parmesan Shortbread Cookies – a Delicious Addition to Any Meal
Shortbread biscuits are of Scottish origin, but due to their popularity, they are now made in the entire UK. Traditionally they are made with sugar, butter and flour and baked in the oven for a short time at a low temperature until just golden.
Parmesan shortbread recipe
Why don’t we see these Parmesan shortbread cookies served more often? It doesn’t take long to make this easy recipe and it’s delicious with dips or served as a crunchy extra addition with your main course.
Variations of shortbread cookies
Today we are serving a savoury variety with parmesan and piment d’espelette. Espelette chili pepper is a spice from the south west of France which can be substituted with paprika, pimento powder or cayenne chili pepper.
You can also make it more fashionable by adding freshly mixed herbs such as thyme, rosemary and sage to the dough, or you can decorate with edible flowers.
You can use a dough mixer for this recipe but if you don’t have one, you can also make shortbread by hand.
Why use cold butter for shortbread cookies
The most important point here is to use cold butter. It will prevent the dough from warming up too quickly during preparation and if you keep the dough chilled before baking it will create pockets of air, yielding a flaky end-product. If the butter becomes too soft, place the dough in the fridge for 5 – 10 minutes before further kneading.
To avoid them becoming soggy, consume these within 2-3 days. This shouldn’t be too difficult.
Parmesan Shortbread Cookies
EQUIPMENT (click pictures for details)
Ingredients
- 170 gr all-purpose flour
- 100 gr grated Parmesan cheese
- 120 gr cold butter parcels
- 1 tsp lime juice optional
- 1 pc egg yolk
- 1 tbsp cold water
- Fleur de sel
- Piment d’Espelette
Instructions
- Combine the Parmesan, flour, and a pinch of salt in the dough mixer. Add the butter parcels gradually.
- Making the dough by hand is easy when only a small amount.
- Mix the egg yolk with the water and lime juice and pour into the mixing bowl. Continue mixing until all is well combined.
- Refrigerate the dough for an hour wrapped in cling film.
- Roll out the Parmesan dough to about 5 mm.
- Cut round or square shaped crackers and arrange them on a baking tray. Sprinkle some Piment d’Espelette and Fleur de sel over the unbaked shortbread.If you have time, refrigerate the unbaked shortbread for another 20 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 175°C and bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they get a light-pale colour around the edge.Allow to cool down on a wire rack.
Notes
- Parmesan can be salty depending on the age of the cheese, taste first and decide then to add extra salt to the dough or not.
- Baking time depends on the thickness of the crackers.
- The lime juice is optional but the idea is to bring a little zing to the taste and to reduce the butter flavour.